The man is now in police custody after he took his own child, ran down the street and threatened to kill her and himself. Thanks to quick thinking on the part of hospital security and a quick response from OPD, this episode ended much better than it could have.
It was the culmination of a bizarre foot chase on the streets of Oakland after the man took his baby at gunpoint from his girlfriend, the child's mother, and ran down Telegraph Ave. with the child in a stroller.
"A stroller, a gun and a baby. It's a boyfriend, girlfriend dispute," Oakland police Lt. Henderson Jordan said. "He made threats to shoot himself and the child if she reported, I'm assuming, some instance, of domestic abuse to the authorities."
A spokesperson for Summit Medical Center told ABC7 News that after the three-month old infant daughter was taken from her, the mother ran into one of their medical buildings asking for help. Several security officers from the hospital then followed the man until police cornered him with guns drawn at Telegraph and 36th.
"I heard him say, 'Get down, get down,'" recalled witness Charles Johnson, who lives nearby. "So, it's pretty crazy to keep your own child in danger, endangering your child's life, as well as yourself, in that type of situation."
With his baby in the stroller just a few feet away, the suspect stashed his gun but wouldn't get down on the ground as ordered. So, police Tased him. A few minutes later, the mother was reunited with her young child.
"The baby's fine. Young baby has been reunited with her mom," Jordan said.
The baby and mother were both checked out at the scene by paramedics. The suspect was also examined after being Tased. He is now facing multiple charges.
